


One night in camp

by GingerBreton



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Banter, Drinking, F/M, Fluff, One Shot, Romance, The Blight (Dragon Age), Tumblr Prompt, Warden Alistair, terrible pickup lines
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-06 05:07:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17933438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GingerBreton/pseuds/GingerBreton
Summary: Based on the tumblr fluff prompt:  I like this, being so close to you.Here is some very early relationship Alistair and Izzy bantering by the campfire over some truly dreadful pick up lines.  But who can resist Alistair, eh?





	One night in camp

The moon cast a soft light across the camp that night, coolly illuminating everything beyond the orange glow of the fire. There was an autumnal chill in the air, but nothing compared to the bitterness of Gherlen’s pass; the ground was finally grass again, not the foot or more of snow they had trudged through on their pilgrimage to Orzammar. The hour was late, the moon long past its zenith in the star scattered sky. Though most of the camp’s inhabitants had retired to their tents hours before, two figures still basked in the warmth of the blaze, their backs resting against an old fallen tree. 

Alistair glanced across at his fellow Warden, mesmerised by the way the firelight illuminated her waves of copper hair and the flames danced in her eyes. He couldn’t tell if it was the warming effects of the Antivan brandy that was passed around the group, or the light reflecting off her hair, but Izzy’s cheeks were flushed. Admittedly, his cheeks had also reddened, but he couldn’t deceive himself that it had anything to do with the drink. Maybe it was something else for her too? 

They had been inching closer together as the evening had progressed, an inch here, as he reached for the brandy, an inch there, when she stretched out to pet the Bann. They hardly dared make eye contact as the evening had worn on, for fear that the change in the way they looked at each another could not go unnoticed by their companions, all the while yearning to close the distance between them. A wasted effort on their part, as unbeknownst to them, their growing infatuation had been the talk of the camp for months. 

Alistair’s fingertips had found hers around the time Wynne had excused herself, and by the time the last of their friends bid them goodnight, his hand had fully enveloped hers. Zevran had slipped away to his tent, flashing the pair a knowing look, but not uttering a word. 

Now that they were alone, his calloused thumb traced patterns on the soft skin of her wrist, causing the rosy glow of her cheeks deepened. This time he caught her looking at him, chewing on her bottom lip as a coy smile crept across her features.

“...fancy meeting you here,” Izzy chuckled, the blush growing more evident by the second.

“Ooof!” Alistair winced, leaning back on the tree, a wide grin breaking across his face. “ _That_ sounds terribly like “do you come here often?”” 

She buried her head in her hands, muffling her laughter. “I’m sorry, it’s been quite a while since i’ve done this! And I wasn’t expecting quite so rigorous a critique from a man who was cloistered for most of his formative years.”

She flashed him a petulant pout, which only made him laugh harder. By now, what had been a delicate blush had engulfed her face in beetroot embarrassment. 

“Fine, oh great wordsmith, has your Chantry education blessed you with any better lines?” she teased.

“Hmmm…” Alistair scratched at the scruff on his chin in mock pondering as he searched his brain for something suitably humiliating. “...something’s wrong with my eyes, because i can’t take them off you.”

He waggled his eyebrows at her, beaming with delight at the laughter that lit up her face as she shook her head in disbelief. 

“Dreadful! How could templars possibly be expected to catch mages with that kind of material?”

“I don’t know what you mean? It always worked for the Revered Mother.”

Izzy snorted loudly enough that Alistair’s ensuing laughter got them shouted at by a disgruntled Wynne, who had stuck her head out of the tent to see what all the commotion was. It took a good ten minutes from her retreat before they heard snores emanating from her tent again, all the while the pair of them not daring to speak, but collapsing into brandy fueled silent laughter whenever their eyes met. 

He shuffled closer to her again, watching her out of the corner of his eye to see when the last of her laughter had subsided. Timing his next attempt perfectly for when she had finally calmed down, letting the last influence of the brandy spur him on, he leant sideways towards her, never taking his eyes off the fire.

“How about… you’re so beautiful you made me forget my pickup line?”

Izzy covered her face with her hand, before jabbing him with a swift elbow. This time the blush reached all the way to her ears.

“Stop it, _you_!”

“No? Not even that one?” he exclaimed in mock astonishment, grinning as he slipped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. “I shall have to feed back to the Knight Commander!”

“I didn’t say, it didn’t work…” 

His cheeks ached from smiling, but he couldn’t help himself. He still felt a thrill of excitement at being able to hold her. After months of not being certain if she felt the same way, here they were, with him still in a state of amazement that only days before, after everything that had happened, he’d finally worked up the courage to kiss her. And she’d kissed him back. 

Izzy shuffled closer still, pulling his arm tighter around her shoulders and entwining her fingers with his. She nestled her head into the crook of his neck, giving a contented sigh, that made his heart flutter. Alistair smiled as her hair tickled his chin. It was the strangest, most exhilarating sensation, having someone want to be this close to him, giving him her undivided attention. Someone who cared. At least, he was sure that was what he saw in her eyes when she looked at him. 

“I like this.” The words slipped from his mouth without him meaning to speak them aloud, drawing a questioning ‘hmm’ from Izzy. Well, in for a bit, in for a sovereign. “This. Being so close to you…”

He felt her smile against his neck, sending out goosebumps like ripples on a pond as her lip brushed his sensitive skin. Her hand reached out, gently cupping his cheek and guiding him to look at her.

“Me too.” There was that something in her eyes again, looking at him in a way he’d never experienced before. “I’m not sure how I lasted so long without it.”

She leant up and caught his lips in a sweet kiss, and for just a moment the weight of the world was off his shoulders, caught up in a perfect reminder that he hadn’t imagined how the world had changed for them in just a few short days. 

And so the night wore on, with stifled laughter and stolen kisses, until pinks and oranges of dawn spilled across the sky.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> This is like 30 tog fluff to mend my soul after the last prompt! I feel faaaar better now though.


End file.
